Volunteers collect 167kg of waste in Zurich

In two-and-a-half hours, volunteers filled 70 bags full of cigarette butts, cans and other packaging material. Keystone-SDA

At the first-ever public city clean-up initiative in Zurich on Saturday, 90 volunteers cleared 167 kilogrammes of small items of waste. The campaign was a success and is to be repeated in the spring, said the city's rubbish and recycling services department.

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The volunteers were keen to get involved, said Tobias Nussbaum, a spokesperson for Entsorgung und Recycling Zürich (ERZ). Clubs and companies usually take part in such “clean-up events”.

This time private individuals were approached through a public appeal. Within a few days, 90 people, including young families, senior citizens, migrants and young adults, had signed up. The group was “totally mixed”, said Nussbaum.

In two-and-a-half hours, 70 bags full of cigarette butts, cans and other packaging material were collected, weighing a total of 167kg, ERZ said in a statement. The collection took place on Lake Zurich on the stretch from Bellevue to Blatter-Wiese, Nussbaum said.

Littering has not changed significantly in recent years, the spokesperson added. Most of the large items of litter are collected by the city rubbish-collection services. The volunteers mainly collected small items along edges and on gravel paths. All participants were equipped with fluorescent waistcoats, gloves, tongs and rubbish bags.

Translated from German with DeepL/gw

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